The heat and humidity will be stifling in the Saratoga Springs area on Friday when Saratoga racecourse opens its doors to the 46-day summer 2026 meeting.
The temperature is expected to reach low- to mid-90s on Friday with a heat index near triple digits. Under New York State Gaming Commission protocols, when the heat index reaches 105, discussions about whether to proceed with or cancel a race card need to take place.
Among the stakes races on the schedule for opening weekend is the Grade 3 Kelso on the grass on July 5. The 1 mile race worth $225,000 has lured Canadian champion MY BOY PRINCE (Cairo Prince), who will either return to route races for this stake or be scratched and come to Woodbine.
My Boy Prince went off favoured last out in the local 5 1/2-furlong Grade 1 Jaipur on June 6, where he landed fifth from the outermost post 10. The five-year-old Cairo Prince gelding entered from a 1 1/4-length win in the Grade 2 Shakertown in April at Keeneland and a half-length fourth in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
“He had an outside post last time. It was an okay effort, but I thought he was a little flat in the race. He’s come out of that race very good,” Casse said.
My Boy Prince now enters back at one mile, the distance of his runner-up finishes in the 2023 Grade 1 Summer at Woodbine Racetrack and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita Park, as well as last year’s Grade 1 Woodbine Mile – when 1 3/4-lengths back of Notable Speech, who exited that effort to win the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Casse said My Boy Prince is still under consideration for the 7 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Connaught Cup on July 19 at Woodbine.
“His best distance is probably three-quarters to seven-eighths,” Casse said. “I find 5 1/2-furlongs is a little short for him at Saratoga. There’s a shot we may scratch and send him to Woodbine.”
My Boy Prince, Canada’s 2023 Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, has posted a 25-9-6-2 record with nearly $1.5 million in earnings.
Also on Sunday is the Harvey Park Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf and Jacques Cartier Stakes (G3) winner POSSIBLEMENTE is scheduled to compete. T and E Racing’s gelding [post 3, Jose Ortiz, 124 pounds] has hit the board in 21 of 32 starts and will look to double up on stakes scores in his Spa debut for trainer Joe Sharp.
The six-year-old Tale of Ekati gelding had focused mainly on route racing before being transferred to Sharp for his current campaign. Following a one-length third in a claiming mile in January at Turfway Park, Sharp turned Possiblemente back in distance to great effect, capturing a pair of optional claiming sprints at the Florence, Kentucky, oval.
Possiblemente went to post a 21-1 longshot in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Turf Sprint on May 2 at Churchill Downs, rallying from last-of-10 and 6 3/4-lengths off the pace under Manny Franco to land a 1 1/4-length fifth. Last out, Possiblemente was in closer contention over Tapeta, closing from fifth-of-seven and 1 3/4-lengths back to post a one-length score in the six-furlong Grade 3 Jacques Cartier on May 30 at Woodbine Racetrack.
“Since we’ve cut him back and turned him into a sprinter, he’s really gotten good. We got that graded stakes win at Woodbine last time, so just hoping to get a stakes win on the grass now,” Sharp said of Possiblemente, who boasts an 11-4-3-0 turf record.
Sharp said Possiblemente adjusted quickly to the sprint game and is improving with each start.
“He was always a horse going long – before we got him – that would show speed and fade, and I’ve had some luck with those horses in the past to turn them into sprinters with something to chase. That made him very genuine,” Sharp said. “The race he ran in the Turf Sprint on Derby Day with Manny, he didn’t really know what he was doing as far as being asked to be that ‘sprinty,’ so by the time the lightbulb went on at the three-sixteenths pole, he was flying. I think having a turf sprint under his belt now, he’ll be a little handier and able to be a little closer and in a position to win.”
Possiblemente, out of the stakes-winning Not Bourbon mare Internal Bourbon, has banked $466,348 via a 32-10-7-4 ledger.
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